Transforming India’s urban landscape
When the Mission was launched in 2014, it was hoped that by October 2, 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who placed cleanliness above self-governance before independence, India would have been rid of the curse of open defecation and achieved 100% scientific waste management. Given the enormity of the challenge, it was realised more time was required
It was a rare compliment when former Indian Foreign Service officer Hardeep Puri, who served as the country's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva and New York, was, in September 2017, given independent charge by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the portfolio of urban development, seen as key to India’s future as an emerging economic power.
The challenge in 2019 is to ensure that Modi’s development agenda, “sabka saath, sabka vikas” (growth and development for all) is now effectively implemented by 2024. That places Puri and his Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in a prominent position to deliver on transformation of the urban landscape by 2022.
Puri underlines that the different flagship schemes constitute the first planned urbanization post-Independence. Earlier, India was labelled a "reluctant urbanizer". Urban development was seen as elitist and not a priority, as India lived largely around its villages. Most of its development budgets went to meet the needs of agriculture and rural areas, with questionable results in 70 years. With Modi changing the focus, the ministry is charged with ensuring that urbanization becomes transformational and an engine for growth by bringing in permanent change in how urban India conceptualizes, designs, builds and manages its affairs. The Modi government in four years spent six times more on urban development than the previous UPA government spent in ten years, from 2004 to 2014. Puri, who also has independent charge of the Civil Aviation ministry and is Minister of State in Commerce and Industry, is in a hurry to deliver on the Modi agenda. The challenges are daunting. By 2030, 600 million Indians, or 40% of its population, will live in cities. For this, 700 to 900 million square metres of residential and commercial space would need to be built every year. In stark terms, 70% of the urban landscape of 2030 is yet to be built.
Along with affordable housing is putting an end to open defecation, a blot on India's development agenda. This is the prime objective of Swachch Bharat Abhiyan, or Clean India Mission, one of the most important agendas under Puri’s watch. In the process, India has ended the taboo attached to discussing the importance of providing toilets to all, which Modi himself broke by talking about it in his I-Day address. When the Mission was launched in 2014, it was hoped that by October 2, 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who placed cleanliness above selfgovernance before independence, India would have been rid of the curse of open defecation and achieved 100% scientific waste management. Given the enormity of the challenge, it was realised more time was required. Not just the numbers, it also involved changing mindsets of people. Likened by Modi to a "jan andolan", a grassroots movement has already led to lifestyle habit changes all over India; its endorsement by the rural masses was a significant influencer in Modi's re-election.
Affordable housing is another important flagship programme. The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) Mission, or ‘Housing for All’, is an ambitious scheme to benefit vulnerable sections of society. India needs to build 12 million homes. Of these, 8 million have already been sanctioned. Puri is confident the remaining homes would be sanctioned before 2022. PMAY(U) emphasizes that ownership of homes should be in the name of the female member of the household or joint ownership. Every new house must have a toilet. The Mission is a powerful blow for women’s empowerment.
Speaking in New York in 2018, Puri stressed that the success of the UN's ambitious 2030 SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) will depend on India. Modi has said: “Cities have the strength to 'digest' poverty and provide economic opportunities for the poorest coming from other less-developed areas. We must further strengthen cities to increase this 'digestive' ability, make it faster and wider... economic prosperity will automatically follow.”
While the Smart-City mission is transforming the way local governments plan, manage and finance our cities, Swachh Bharat Mission is transforming people’s attitudes to public spaces and public health.
These are not just about building infrastructure, but about reclaiming the habits and changing mindsets that made the Indus Valley Civilization a pioneer in urban living. The development paradigm has made a dramatic shift. Old India is rapidly making place for the new.